Resolution А.951(23)

IMPROVED GUIDELINES FOR MARINE PORTABLE FIRE EXTINGUISHERS

(adopted on 5 December 2003)

 

 

THE ASSEMBLY,

 

RECALLING Article 15(j) of the Convention on the International Maritime Organization concerning the functions of the Assembly in relation to regulations and guidelines concerning maritime safety,

 

RECALLING ALSO that it adopted, by resolution A.602(15), the Revised Guidelines for marine portable fire extinguishers, to supplement the relevant requirements of chapter II-2 of the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), 1974, as amended, as well as chapter V of the Torremolinos International Convention for the Safety of Fishing Vessels, 1977,

 

RECOGNIZING the need to further improve the Revised Guidelines for marine portable fire extinguishers in view of adoption of amendments to chapter II-2 of the 1974 SOLAS Convention and of the 1993 Torremolinos Protocol and in the light of experience gained with the application of the Revised Guidelines,

 

HAVING CONSIDERED the recommendation made by the Maritime Safety Committee at its seventy-fifth session,

 

1. ADOPTS the Improved Guidelines for Marine Portable Fire Extinguishers, the text of which is set out in the Annex to the present resolution;

 

2. RECOMMENDS Governments concerned to apply the Improved Guidelines set out in the Annex, in conjunction with the appropriate requirements of the above instruments;

 

3. AUTHORIZES the Maritime Safety Committee to keep the Improved Guidelines under review and amend or extend them as necessary;

 

4. RESOLVES to supersede resolution A.602(15).

 

Annex

IMPROVED GUIDELINES FOR MARINE PORTABLE FIRE EXTINGUISHERS

1. Scope

 

These Guidelines have been developed to supplement the relevant requirements for marine portable fire extinguishers* of the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea 74, as amended, the International Code for fire safety systems (FSS Code) and the 1993 Torremolinos Protocol relating to the Torremolinos International Convention for the Safety of Fishing Vessels, 1977. The Guidelines are offered to Administrations to assist them in determining appropriate design and construction parameters. The status of the Guidelines is advisory. Their content is based on current practices and does not exclude the use of designs and materials other than those indicated below.

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* Wherever in the text of these Guidelines the word "portable extinguisher" appears it should be taken as meaning "marine portable fire extinguisher".

 

2. Definitions

 

2.1 An extinguisher is an appliance containing an extinguishing medium, which can be expelled by the action of internal pressure and be directed into a fire. This pressure may be stored pressure or be obtained by release of gas from a cartridge.

 

2.2 A portable extinguisher is one, which is designed to be carried and operated by hand, and which in working order has a total weight of not more that 23 kg.

 

2.3 Extinguishing medium is the substance contained in the extinguisher the action of which causes extinction of fire.

 

2.4 Charge of an extinguisher is the mass or volume of the extinguishing medium contained in the extinguisher. The quantity of the charge of water or foam extinguishers is normally expressed in volume (litres) and that of other types of extinguishers in mass (kilograms).

 

3. Classification

 

3.1 Extinguishers are classified according to the type of extinguishing medium they contain. At present the types of extinguishers and the uses for which they are recommended are as follows: